DH Training Group

Today was the second edition of the Footzone Dirty Half training Group. 61 people showed up on this fine day to run 9 miles on the trails that are snow free at this stage of "spring". The weather was great nice and cool to start but comfortable once you got going. Last Saturday was the first training run which was 7 miles long. It was a bit cold and there was a race the next day but we still had 43 hearty souls brave the low twenties and come out for a run. Next weekend we have an 11 miler planned and the course is going to be sweet. With the added distance we will actually finish the run just like the race.

Pictured above is some folks hanging out after today's run. Thanks to all that came out and hope to see you all again next Sunday. Thanks also to Nancy P's Bakery for supplying post run snacks.

Peace out,

dave

Trail update

I went out and explored the conditions of Phil's Trail today to see if we could run the actual course for this coming Sundays training run. The good news is that a ton of snow has melted since last Saturday. The bad news is that there is still a ton of snow left to melt. The canyon was better but still got really bad towards the middle of the climb. So I now have to find an alternate route which will likely be a variation on last weeks route.

Peace out,
dave

Good Luck!

For this years 112th running of the Boston Marathon which is coming up on Monday the 21st we have a strong Central Oregon contingent making a showing. I hope you all have stellar races and a great time.

Good luck to:
Amy Clark
Micheal Dennis
JJ Howard
Sean Meissner
Danny Harris
Dru Carpenter
Tim Carpenter
Michelle Crook
Jenny Haynes
Stephanie Hackbarth
Sarah Peterson

Peace out,
dave

Horse Butte 08 recap

Pics= Before race, after race, Andy and Kristen running fast

Here is a recap of the 2008 FootZone Horse Butte 10 miler that happened this past Sunday, April 6th.
It was a classic Central Oregon spring day. It started out Sunny and beautiful with sunny skies and no wind. With about twenty minutes to race start in comes some clouds that dumped a dusting of snow on the ground backed by a strong wind making it even colder. About 10 minutes after the start the skies cleared and it was a great day to be running out east of town. Thankfully the sun graced us with it’s presence for the next few hours and the wind stayed away so all could enjoy some post race cheer courtesy of Nancy P’s, Oregon County Beef, and Deschutes Brewery.
The race itself was completed by 163 people, our biggest ever. I know this is a relatively small race but it was never meant to be anything more than a cool race early in the year to kick of the trail race season in Central Oregon. Anyway the day brought some impressive performances including Andy Martins record setting time of 57:12 which is 45 seconds faster than his record setting performance last year. Check out the picture of him at the halfway point. The bastard is actually smiling at 5:45 pace. For the ladies the Footzone’s own Kristen Riley successfully defended here title adding a second Horse Butte win to the record books. Another performance that is just down right impressive is from a guy named Dave McJunkin from Eugene. Dave ran a 1:15:41 which is a feet in and of itself. Then you read in the results that the man is 62 years old. Nice work Dave.
I would like to send a big thank you to all the kind people who volunteered at the race. Thanks to Amy and Dan-O who passed out packets and signed up racers for 6 hours on Saturday. This also allowed me to mark the course during daylight which is always a plus. Thanks to the parking crew of Teague, Jill, Amanda, and Nate. Amanda and Nate also rocked the Barbeque after parking cars. Nate is a talented man, not only can he barbeque hot dogs and gardenburgers for 163 people he can do while knocking back a PBR tall boy at 10:30. Nice work Nate! Thanks to Darcy, Gary, Purdence, and Judy for keeping the finish line in order. And also a great job to the aid station crew. Carla from ONDA and her parents kept you all hydrated and did in speaking two languages. I loved hearing Carla’s dad yelling Bravo as the runners passed.
I hope all that participated enjoyed the event and will come back again next year. I am still hammering out the financials and will hopefully have them done soon to see how much moola we are going to be able to donate to the kind folks over at ONDA.

Thanks to all,

dave

USAFitBend

The Start of USAFitBend was a whopping success as about 60 participants gathered at Juniper Swim and Fitness at 7:30 this morning to sign up and run or walk a 2 mile loop. This is a great opportunity to get some coaching in a social group setting geared towards running or walking a marathon or half-marathon. The group was varied but most importantly, plentiful, so everyone will feel a part. If you yourself or someone you know might be interested, next Saturday is another chance to sign up. Same time, same place. Here's a link http://www.usafitbend.com/ See you at HB tomorrow-cheers-teague

Eve of HB

Just got done marking the 10 miler for tomorrow out at Horse Butte. Gotta love April in Central Oregon as it snowed on me for the last 6 miles of the trail. Despite the white stuff pelting me the trail is in primo condition. That should make for some fast times and fun to be had by all.

Thanks,
dave

Horse Butte FYI

Hey everyone there are only 35 spots left for the 2008 Footzone Horse Butte 10 Miler so don't delay if you want to run. You can sign up at the Footzone from 12-6 on Saturday 4-5-08. NO DAY OF REGISTRATION! So come out and have some fun running a great loop east of Bend.
For those of you who are registered bring some warm clothes so you can hang out after the race and enjoy the post run BBQ. Teague is all fired up to grill you a Oregon Country Beef hot dog. For those of you who don't dig on meat there will be some Gardenburgers as well. As always we will have some post race goodies from Nancy P's as well as some refreshment from Deschutes Brewery for those of you that are of age.

Take care and we will see you all at the race,

dave